Definition of Love
by Graceless
Summary: Tooya's memory has just returned and now Aya is no longer a part of his life (so to speak). The whole year before is gone, and their relationship is no more now that Miori has returned. Yuuhi has the chance to make his move... will he?
1. Default Chapter

Okay, this is my very first fan fic so be nice! The scene begins at the beginning of volume 8 in the manga because that's all I've read so far. Nope, haven't seen the anime yet, but I hope to soon. Anyway, Tooya's memory (part of it anyway) has just returned and he's left Aya for Miori. Yup, it's a Yuuhi & Aya fic! Of course that's how it should have happened in the first place. No offense, but I like Yuuhi better. : )

... intro is for flashback scene

Chapter 1 

Aya had not eaten in two days. She'd stayed in her bedroom staring at the wall thinking. Her first love... her Tooya was gone. Gone forever, never to come back. He was now with _his_ first love, Miori. And it was perfectly understandable how he had fallen in love with her a year ago; she was such a sweet girl. (A/N Remember now, Aya had only just met her.)

Aya hadn't heard from Tooya or Miori since the car accident, but she had gone to visit Tooya at the hospital and walked in on them kissing. They looked so happy together... like they were meant for each other. They had no other cares in the world... just to be together. It caused them both to blush and giggle to themselves as they noticed her at the doorway.

... "Oh! I didn't know you were here...um...Miss Mikage," Tooya said.

"No, no... my fault. I should have knocked instead of barging in like this. I-I'm sorry," Aya said, her eyes downcast.

It hurt her so deeply to see the man she loved kissing someone else. And he didn't even remember her name! She just couldn't bear to tell them the truth... that Tooya had been in love with her. How much of it had even been true after all? Aya looked so much like Miori. Was that the only reason Tooya had been drawn to her? Was their entire love a lie?

"It's all right! I'm glad you came to visit!" Miori said.

"Yes, I haven't had any visitors yet," Tooya said smiling.

"Oh... well I-I really can't stay too long. I just came to give you this," Aya said presenting a small basket of foods. Before handing it to Tooya, she took out the card she had written to him. It contained sentences proclaiming her love for him and how much she missed him, but there was no need for it now. He was where he truly belonged... with Miori. ...

Aya rolled over to face the other wall. What if all along she had been meant to be with Yuuhi? What if it had only taken this series of events to allow her to notice? Could it be that fate had always meant for them to be together?

Aya glanced at the flimsy doors separating their rooms. She saw the shadows as Yuuhi took off his shirt. The simple motions that she had never noticed before now attracted her attention. A whole new feeling came over her. Was she...? She couldn't be...

No! No! She loved Tooya. And nothing could change that. Even though he loved someone else, nothing could change her love for him. Nothing!

Aya gasped. They were her own thoughts – thoughts that had been expressed to her not so long ago by Yuuhi. How could it be that she was now in the same position as Yuuhi? She felt the hurt and pain that Yuuhi had felt the entire time that she had been with Tooya. How did he deal with the pain of loving someone he couldn't have? Realization sank in, and Aya was taken out of her thoughts as Yuuhi opened the dividing door.

"Aya..." he said his heart sinking as he saw tears forming in her eyes. He couldn't stand to see her cry. He only wanted to see her happy.

"Oh, Yuuhi..." she said sitting up.

"Aya, I can't stand to see you cry," Yuuhi said as he leaned down to hug her, "I only want to see you happy."

Aya willingly accepted his hug. There was so much warmth in his embrace. His love for her was no lie. She could tell this simply from one hug.

Yuuhi closed his eyes. He didn't want the hug to ever end. He was perfectly content just having her there in his arms. He didn't care what else was happening around him. He just wanted her.

"Look, I don't know where I stand now that Tooya's memory has returned. I just want you to know that I'll always be right here for you as a friend... or more. I love you Aya."

Her hidden feelings for Yuuhi were emerging and engulfing her completely. He had always been there for her and she knew he always would. Had she buried her true feelings for fear that she would fall in love with him? That she would find a never-ending love like no other, so pure and true.

But what about Tooya? She had been in love with him, and was still in love with him. Theirs was a love that could not be so easily replaced. It was young and still needed to grow, but it was deep. Never before had Aya felt such feelings for a person.

Her head throbbed with confusion as she cried on Yuuhi's shoulder. She didn't know what to feel. She didn't know what she was supposed to be feeling. Tooya had only rediscovered his past and his other love two days ago. It was still too early to decide anything. All she could do for now was cry.

"Yuuhi, I'm so sorry. I-I shouldn't be here crying to you like this," Aya said breaking apart from their hug. She wiped away her tears and put on a weak smile, "Anyway, what's for dinner? I'm starving."

"Oh, um... I don't know yet."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be delicious. Call for me when it's ready. I'm going to take a bath."

Yuhi nodded as he left the room. He knew what was going to be on his mind the entire time he was cooking now.

Really sappy and sad I know, but this is only the first chapter. I promise to add more humor into it in a bit. The character's personalities may be a bit different, but I just can't describe them as brilliantly as Yuu Watase did. Plus this is my fan fic so nyah nyah nyah! J/K Also please review! I've worked really hard on this!


	2. Chapter 2

Back again! This time with chapter 2! I've made the sentences in italics thoughts of the characters. It's just easier to tell them apart then. Okay, ENJOY!

Chapter 2

Aya drew herself a bubble bath and slowly sank into it. It was soothing to feel the soapy bubbles against her skin. There was a peacefulness that came with taking a bubble bath. It was so serene. Yet she still could not get her mind off of Tooya and Yuuhi. She was so confused.

She dunked her head into the soapy water out of frustration.

Meanwhile, Yuuhi had quickly concocted another one of his delicious meals with the motivation of Aya in his mind. He quickly walked to the dividing doors and knocked to tell her dinner was ready. He was surprised to hear no answer.

"Sheesh! It's already been..." he glanced at his watch, 'Ten minutes... oh..." He hadn't realized just how quickly he'd cooked dinner.

Yuuhi walked casually to the bathroom door and paused in front of it. Memories of when they had both just met and when she moved in with he and Suzumi flooded his mind. That one time he had accidentally walked in on her... Though it had happened a year ago, the details remained fresh on his mind. He could remember every curve of her body.

He raised his fist to knock on the door. He could barely think straight. What was he supposed to say again? He brought his fist down across the door. It unexpectantly creaked open and revealed the bathing beauty in the tub.

Yuuhi's eyes got big as he saw the outline of Aya's body underneath the water. Tiny bubbles were popping to the surface.

_"The door must not have been shut all the way..." Yuuhi thought, "Wh-what do I do?"_

Suddenly Aya's head popped up above the surface. She gasped for air and sat breathing heavily with her eyes closed. Yuuhi watched her chest heaving up and down barely covered with bubbles. His heart was racing.

"...Aya..." Yuuhi began.

Aya's eyes opened and she looked alarmed. Right before she was about to yell, Yuuhi continued.

"...you're so... beautiful..."

Aya blushed and folded her arms across her chest.

"Don't worry, I can't see anything. I-I-I'm sorry for staring," Yuuhi lowered his eyes so he could no longer see her. He wanted so badly to go over to her and kiss her.

"I-I was just coming to tell you that dinner was ready... S-sorry to disturb you," Yuuhi said trying not to sneak a quick glance.

Aya nodded. She could tell that Yuuhi was tense and shook up over walking in on her yet again. This brought a small smile to her face. He tried so hard to be as polite as he could, but he was after all only a teenager. It was natural for him to want to sneak a peek.

_"He is really cute..." Aya thought, "And sweet..."_

Suddenly a strange feeling came over her. She wanted Yuuhi to stay with her. She didn't want him to leave, but instead lock the door and be with her... but it was too late. Yuuhi had already turned to leave. This time the door was shut the whole way.

Aya frowned as she stared waiting for the door to open again, "Oh, Yuuhi..."

On the other side of the door, Yuuhi stood with his eyes still wide and a hand covering his forehead in amazement.

_"She was... and she didn't... and I..." his thoughts all rambled together. Now he really couldn't concentrate._

"Yuuhi! You're the master chef around here. So when's dinner gonna be ready?!" Suzumi called from the kitchen snapping him back into reality.

"It, uh.... ahem... It's ready," he said walking back into the kitchen.

"Good, cause I'm starving!" Chidori exclaimed.

Yuuhi silently served the three of them, including himself, and set out an extra plate for Aya. He doubted that she would come out after the incident, but did it nonetheless to be polite. He was surprised to see her come out in her robe and join them for dinner.

"Oh!" Chidori said in surprise, "I'm glad you finally came out to eat. I was worried about you."

"Yeah... Yuuhi finally convinced me to come out," Aya said with a small, shy smile.

Both Chidori and Suzumi dropped their chopsticks and glanced at each other in suspicion.

"Yuuhi... did you two like... do it?" Chidori asked.

Yuuhi's eyes got big and he proceeded to choke on a piece of rice. Aya blushed and glanced at Yuuhi before looking back down at her food.

"What, are you crazy?!" Yuuhi exclaimed, "Of course we didn't do it!"

Suzumi raised her eyebrows as she looked at her younger brother. She wasn't buying it. Just two days ago, Aya had been the saddest she'd ever seen her. People just didn't go from sad and miserable to semi-happy and smiling for no reason. Something had happened.

She turned her attention back to Aya then. Aya was picking at her rice with the same shy smile as earlier.

_"What is going through your mind?" Suzumi wondered._

Aya wondered the same about Yuuhi as she listened to him defend himself from Chidori's remark.

"Why would you even think that?! Jeez!" Yuuhi yelled.

_"Oh, my God! I can't believe she just asked that! I mean she just... we just... What would have happened if I had kissed her? Does she... does _Aya_ want to do it?" Yuuhi wondered._

"Okay, okay! Sheesh! Calm down!" Chidori said.

"You know it _is_ quite the defense you have there. You're acting like you're guilty of something," Suzumi said, "But if you ever, ever, ever....!" She continued hitting Yuuhi with her fan every time she said ever. "...violate Aya in any way, it'll be the end of you!"

Yuuhi fell to the side groaning in pain, "Why doesn't someone burn that fan?" he mumbled.

Yup! You've got more comedy at the end there... poor Yuuhi. It seems he'll be getting hit a lot by that fan. LoL! I'm trying to set this up so Aya gradually notices her growing feelings for Yuuhi. After losing a first love, it takes time to get over it and find someone new. I kind of rushed it a little though... oops... I can't help it if I'm impatient! Anyway, R & R please! I'll update soon!


	3. Chapter 3

I'm back yet again. I'm too eager to keep posting so I keep putting new chapters up even with no reviews. (Guess that's the downfall of having my fic previously written out already) I need to be patient and wait for people to actually read first. That's my only flaw...

... intro for flashbacks

Chapter 3 

"Ooh! Guess what we're doing today!" Chidori chimed happily.

"Oh! A guessing game! I love guessing games!" Aya said, "Hmm... Are we going shopping? Ooh! Maybe to karaoke! I love karaoke!"

It was amazing how one sentence had lifted her mood. If only Yuuhi knew how much it cheered her up... how happy it made her.

... "Aya... you're... beautiful..." ...

No one had told her that before, not even Tooya. Yuuhi really was different than Tooya. They had two entirely different personalities, and Aya was finding that she was growing closer and closer to Yuuhi. The simplest things he did could make her smile. Slowly the pain she felt over Tooya had been disappearing in the course of a month. Even the days when she had missed him the most, Yuuhi was there to comfort and care for her. Those precious moments only added to her growing feelings for him.

"No, we're going on a nature walk! It's gonna be so much fun! And I'm packing a picnic to take along so we can spend the whole day just enjoying the beauty of the woods!" Chidori said excitedly.

"Oh, what fun!" Aya said.

"Yeah... What fun," Yuuhi said unenthusiastically, "Running with the squirrels in the woods. We'll probably get lost."

Poor Yuuhi said this just as Suzumi walked into the room. Yet again her fan was put to use.

"Sheesh! That thing is a deadly weapon!" Yuuhi said rubbing the top of his head.

"I think it's a wonderful idea, Chidori. Where are we going though?" Suzumi asked.

"I found a cute little walking trail that's only about five miles from here. I've only walked part of the way, but it was really nice," Chidori said.

"That's great! Wow, I never knew there was a walking trail around here. Otherwise I would have suggested it myself," Aya said cheerfully.

Hearing Aya talk so highly of the nature walk convinced Yuuhi into tagging along.

"Okay, I'll go, but I'm cooking for the picnic. No way do I trust your cooking, Chidori."

Chidori's jaw dropped and her eyebrows formed a 'V'. She lunged at Yuuhi, but was stopped in midair by Suzumi.

"Let me," Suzumi said swatting Yuuhi over the head with her fan.

"Now it's my turn," Chidori said stealing the fan and chasing Yuuhi down the hallway with it.

"Why isn't that thing gone yet?!" Yuuhi yelled pathetically as the chase continued past the kitchen doorway.

Aya laughed, "If you get a second Chidori, what time are we leaving?"

The chase ended abruptly with one final hit to the head.

"In a little. I was planning to spend the day there," Chidori answered.

"Okay, well then I'm going to change. Gotta have the proper hiking gear!" Aya said walking back to her room.

"Me too!" Yuuhi said charging after her, but Suzumi grabbed his shirt collar stopping him.

"I believe you've got a picnic to prepare," she said.

Within an hour, the four of them piled into the car with Mrs. Q. as their chauffeur. Suzumi took shotgun while the others crammed in the back with Yuuhi carrying the picnic basket. Mrs. Q. gunned it causing everyone to lurch forward. Yuuhi barely kept ahold of the basket.

"Geez! Mrs. Q., I'm trying to keep our lunch intact, and just maybe ourselves as well!" Yuuhi yelled.

"Have no fear! Mrs. Q. is here! I'm just trying to beat my old record. I made it to the first stoplight in 29 seconds."

Mrs. Q. swerved the wheel sharply to the right and Aya, who was seated on the left side was thrown to the right. She put her hand down to brace herself, and found that she had placed it right on top of Yuuhi's. They both glanced down to find their hands' were touching. Aya blushed and was about to move her hand when Yuuhi grabbed it. Their fingers entwined so they were holding hands. Both turned to face each other. For the longest time they just stared into each other's eyes. Yuuhi was about to lean in and kiss her when another sharp turn forced their hands apart and snapped them back into reality.

"27 seconds! Haha! I'm on a roll today!" Mrs. Q. said.

"Does this mean you'll slow down now?" Chidori asked clinging to the side of the door.

"Don't worry, we're almost there. I give it another 63 seconds, you can time me," Mrs. Q. said.

"A minute and a half to drive five miles? This can't be legal!" Yuuhi exclaimed.

"Just keep ahold of that basket! I'd rather not be covered in our lunch," Chidori said.

Yuuhi had been completely unaware that he was still holding the picnic basket in his right hand. All of his focus had been on his left hand and feeling Aya's delicate skin.

"Oh! Is that the path up there?" Aya asked pointing in front of the speeding car.

"Yep! That's it!" Chidori said smiling.

Mrs. Q. skidded to a stop in front of the beaten up path.

"Bail out everyone!" she shouted tossing Suzumi out the door, "I'm taking this thing for a joy ride!"

After everyone was out, Mrs. Q. slammed her foot onto the gas pedal causing the tires to screech. The car took off in a flash leaving behind a groaning pile of disgruntled passengers.

"We really need to find a different driver," Yuuhi said.

"I hear ya," said Chidori.

"No, Mrs. Q.'s driving isn't _that_ bad," Aya said.

Suzumi, Yuuhi, and Chidori stared at her unblinking.

"Well, she... uh... got us here in no time at all. That's gotta count for something."

"Yeah, a night spent in the E.R.," Yuuhi commented.

"Well, we're here now and in one piece..." Aya began.

"Barely," Yuuhi mumbled.

"... so let's just go walk."

Well, that's it for Chapter 3. Lots more comedy in there. Not too much romance happening except for that scene in the car. I'm trying so hard not to make it too boring. I want just enough romance and just enough comedy. I'm not too big on writing about action though... I'll have to really work hard if I do that. Maybe, we'll see. My only complain for this chapter was that I didn't know where to end it at. I already have up to chapter 5 written in a notebook so I just picked a spot I figured I could stop at. Please review! I could use some ideas and compliments are always a plus! Thanks! And see ya in chapter 4!


	4. Chapter 4

Wow! I actually got reviews! I'm soooo happy!!! Thank you The-cat's-meow and crazychickie4life for your reviews. I will use some of your tips in the upcoming chapters. For now I'm going to just type the rest of what I have written down already. It does end sort of abruptly again so sorry bout that.... Okay then, enjoy!

Chapter 4

The four of them took off down the nature trail. It wasn't long before they were completely surrounded by trees. All that they could hear was the chirping of birds.

"Oh, it's beautiful! I can't believe we didn't come here sooner!" Aya exclaimed as they walked.

"I know! It's so peaceful! I love coming here," Chidori said.

"Yeah, it's actually kind of nice. Hey, I'll race you guys to that rock up ahead!" Yuuhi said.

"You got it!" Aya replied.

"I'm in," Chidori said.

"Count me in too! You're going down lover boy!" Suzumi said smugly. "Ready, go!"

Chidori, Aya, and her took off running. Yuuhi on the other hand remained in disbelief of what Suzumi had just said.

"Whaddya mean "lover boy"? I'm not a lover boy!" he yelled trying to catch up to them. Suzumi won the race touching the rock first. A little after her came Chidori. Aya, on the other hand, stepped in a small hole and tumbled to the ground scraping up her elbows and knees. Yuuhi halted to a stop next to her.

"Aya, are you all right?" he asked helping her to her feet.

"Yeah, just a few scrapes and... OWWW!!!" she winced in pain.

"I think you twisted your ankle. You need to keep off your feet. Hold on a second," Yuuhi said lifting her up in his strong arms. "Guys! Aya twisted her ankle!"

"Oh, Aya, are you okay?" Chidori called running to her and Yuuhi.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't really walk."

"So we see," Suzumi said raising her eyebrows at Yuuhi as she arrived shortly after Chidori.

"We need to get her home and put some ice on her ankle. Suzumi, do you have a phone with you to call Mrs. Q.?" Yuuhi asked.

"No, I told Mrs. Q. to wait for us back at the beginning of the trail at 4:30."

"Great, what do we do now?" Yuuhi asked.

The group remained silent as they thought of a plan to get home. There had to be some way. They just needed to jog their memory a bit. Chidori bit her lip and racked her brain finally coming up with the solution.

"Hey! I remember passing a pay phone near the beginning. We can call from there," Chidori said smiling. She was proud of herself for coming up with the answer to their problem.

"Okay, let's go then," Yuuhi said walking back the way they had just come from. The three of them headed back to find the pay phone with Aya still in Yuuhi's arms. Yuuhi hadn't really given much thought to the fact that he was carrying the woman he loved. His sole concern had been to make sure Aya was okay. When this fact finally sank in, Yuuhi stopped dead in his tracks with his eyes wide open. Chidori and Suzumi kept walking not noticing that Yuuhi had stopped. They were too caught up in their conversation.

"Yuuhi? What are we stopping for?" Aya asked him.

"Oh, um... er... nothing," he answered nervously continuing to walk again.

Images of her sitting in the bath tub just barely covered by bubbles filled his mind. Again the sensation of wanting to kiss her filled his body. He wanted their lips to touch, to feel her soft lips against his. He wanted to taste her. He didn't know it, but Aya felt the exact same. This had been a scene out of her very own fairytale. Her prince charming came to her rescue, scooping her up in his big, strong arms. His sole concern was of her own safety.

She looked up at Yuuhi smiling. He was obviously nervous. She layed her head on his shoulder. It was so comfortable. This was the way it was meant to be. This was where she belonged. She didn't want to reach the pay phone. It would only mean that Yuuhi would put her down.

_"She just layed her head on me! Why did she... Does she - does she... like me? Does she _love _me?" Yuuhi wondered with beads of sweat forming on his forehead._

"Um... Aya?" he asked hoping she would volunteer the information he wanted to hear.

Aya knew he was wondering about the motivation behind her action, "Sorry, I'm kind of tired."

"Oh, no problem. No problem," Yuuhi replied quickly enjoying having her head resting on his shoulder.

Finally the four of them reached the pay phone by the side of the road where only two hours ago Mrs. Q. had tossed them out of the car. It was a wonder that she managed not to crash into it earlier.

"Okay, who's got money with them? And as in money, I mean coins," Suzumi asked.

"Sorry," Chidori said emptying out her pockets, "I didn't bring any."

"Me neither. Suzumi, don't you have money with you?" Yuuhi asked.

"No, I mean we were just going for a walk."

"You don't?!" Yuuhi yelled panicking, "I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one! Don't you know that we might need coins to make a call in case of an emergency?!"

Aya pulled her head away from Yuuhi's shoulder in a daze. He had just yelled straight into her ear. She covered them in case he started up again.

"Me?! The responsible one? What about the rest of you? I mean shouldn't all of..." Suzumi fired back in return before being interrupted.

It had taken a while for Aya to recover from the shock in her eardrum, but once she had, she realized that she had enough coins to make one call.

"Hey!" she called out to end their fight, "_I've _got some coins. I guess _I'm _the only responsible one here."

Yuuhi rolled his eyes, "Yeah, right."

"Just put me down so I can get the change out of my pocket," Aya said.

Yuuhi gently set her down so all of her weight ended up on her uninjured right foot, keeping his arm around her shoulders as a brace. After she was sure she was steady, Aya dug around in her pocket pulling out a handful of change.

"There," she said handing it to Suzumi, "That should be enough for one call. Other than that, I've got nothing else. Better hope that Mrs. Q.'s at home and not joy riding around like she said she'd be."

Suzumi dropped the coins into the slot and dialed the familiar numbers to call home. The phone rang once.

_"Ohh, she'd better be there," Suzumi thought._

It rang twice.

_"Come on, pick up. Pick up."_

It rang a third time.

_"This is the last time she'll be joy riding for a loooong time."_

It rang a fourth time.

_"That's it. Somebody's gettin fired!"_

It rang once more before playing a not-so-famliar message on the answering machine.

"Helloooooo! Pa-pa-pa-please leave a message after the beep,"Mrs. Q.'s voice rapped. "Cause Yuuhi and Suzumi are out with their peeps. Leave your name and a message and they'll get back to you soon, and never insult Yuuhi even though he's a buffoon. Ba-ba-ba-bye now!"

_"Mrs. Q.!!!!!!!!!!!! I told her not to mess with the answering machine again!!! ARGH! Yuuhi is a buffoon though...."_

Suzumi's face first crinkled up in anger, but then toned down as she heard the end of Mrs. Q.'s very own answering machine rap song.

"Is that a good face or a bad one? I can't seem to tell," Chidori whispered to Yuuhi.

Yuuhi shook his head in indecision with and "I don't know" look upon his face.

"BEEEP!" the answering machine message blurted into Suzumi's ear.

"Ahem, well Mrs. Q. apparently you're not there even though we need you to come pick us up because Aya twisted her ankle. Let me just say this, NO MORE JOY RIDING! And we'll talk about that answering machine message later," Suzumi said harshly into the phone. "...though I did admire the ending sentence," Suzumi mumbled into the phone with a laugh. "One more thing, when you get this message... COME PICK US UP!"

Suzumi hung up the phone and turned to the rest of them who had huddled together scared that she would lash out at them too. She smiled a fake yet sweet smile.

"Mrs. Q. unfortunately wasn't home so I guess we'll just have to wait here. No reason why we coudn't just set up our picnic right here while we wait."

"Sure, I am getting a little hungry," Chidori said setting down the picnic basket that she had taken over the duty of carrying now that Yuuhi was helping Aya.

"Yes, the noisy sound of the cars driving by will be soothing and peaceful," Yuuhi said sarcastically.

"Just sit down!" Suzumi scolded him. As he began to help Aya sit down, Aya suddenly noticed a familar car containing the exact person they were trying to contact driving down the road towards them.

"Hey! There's Mrs. Q. now!" Aya yelled pointing to the car. "Only she's got someone with her. I can't quite make out their face..." Aya gasped, "... Tooya?!"


	5. Chapter 5

Wow! I'm surprised that so many people are reviewing. Why, I never could have dreamed... ::sniffle sniffle::**** Thank you!!! Sorry for the rather long wait to update. I'll try to keep updating as often as I can. Truth be told, I wasn't even sure where I was gonna take the story from there, but I've got a plan now. Aha! Well, now for your entertainment here's chapter 5!

Chapter 5

"Tooya? What the heck is Tooya doing here?" Yuuhi said angrily.

_"Great. This is just great. He's coming back for Aya isn't he? NO! He can't! Aya likes _me _now!"_

Aya just stood unmoving in shock. Her jaw was slightly dropped and her eyes were full of sadness and confusion. Her legs slowly began to buckle and had Yuuhi not been holding onto her, she would have fallen down.

_"He's back... Why though? And why am I feeling so confused again?" Aya thought ignoring the conversation that was happening around her._

Chidori gasped, "Oh! This can't be good..." She glanced at Suzumi who was also very surprised and confused.

_"I still do love Tooya."_

"I think the question is, why is Tooya with Mrs. Q.? What the heck is going on around here?" Suzumi asked with a puzzled look.

_"But that doesn't change the fact that he doesn't love me."_

"I don't know, but this is just turning out to be one heck of a day. Why is he here!?" Yuuhi said aggravated. "He's not supposed to be here!"

_"Or maybe he does... That's why he came back for me! He does love me!"_

"Maybe Mrs. Q. has a secret life that we don't know about..." Chidori said. She gasped again. "What if Mrs. Q. is a celestial maiden too!"

_"But what about Yuuhi? I thought I loved him... I at least like him a lot, a very lot. All of these things he's done for me. I think I might..." Aya was ripped out of her thoughts by a few short sentences._

"Oh, puh-lease. That's not possible. Celestial maidens are beautiful and Mrs. Q. is... well not," Yuuhi pointed out. "Let's just face the facts. Tooya just came back for Aya to make my life miserable. I mean doesn't he know that I like her already???"

All three women peeled their eyes off of the car speeding toward them and stared at Yuuhi. Aya wore the same look of confusion on her face that she had a month earlier when she had been deciding whether it was Tooya or Yuuhi she truly loved. She was back to square one. She had thought she loved Yuuhi, but that was when she thought Tooya was out of the picture entirely. Now with him right there in the car that was growing closer to her, she didn't know for sure.

_"Yuuhi does really like me, and I really like him. I don't know what to do! Maybe if I could just hobble out of the way and hide behind a bush. Tooya won't see me then. Ohh! But I really want to see him!"_

Chidori had her trademark surprised face on and was delighted to hear Yuuhi finally admit it while Suzumi was the opposite. Her eyes narrowed as she prepared to nail Yuuhi with a speech he'd never forget.

"I knew it! You like her! Get your hands off her! You're such a pervert!" Suzumi blurted out angrily. She ripped his arm off of Aya's shoulder causing her to hop around on one foot.

"Hey!" she yelled helplessly continuing to hop. "I was in the middle of thinking! What's the big idea here!"

"What'd you do that for? Isn't a person free to like another person?" Yuuhi yelled back at Suzumi reached to grab Aya and prevent her from falling down.

"Not when they're a celestial maiden! You were told to keep and eye on her and that's all! If I find out that you've done anything perverted to her it's the end of you!" Suzumi scolded as she swatted his hands with her fan and reached out to grab Aya herself. Unfortunately she didn't make it in time and Aya fell to the ground with a thud.

"Thanks so much you guys," Aya said sarcastically as she lay staring up at the bickering pair. They stood, heads bent over, looking at her with gaping mouths. Meanwhile the car had reached the curbside and screeched to a stop.

"Aya, I'm so sorry! I reached over and then..." they both sweetly tried to explain as they began to lift her back up.

Aya turned her head away from them with her eyes squinted and held her arm outstretched in front of her with her palm showing to notify them to stop. "That's quite all right. I think I'm safer down here anyway," she said.

Yuuhi and Suzumi backed off glaring at each other.

"_See, now look what you did!" both thought simultaneously._

Chidori was already up next to the car and staring into the window at Tooya. He wasn't moving. His eyes weren't open and there was a big red mark on his forehead as though he had been hit by something recently.

"Mrs. Q., what's going on here? Is he sleeping?" Chidori asked hoping that that was the reason Tooya was in the front seat passed out.

"Oh, no. Afraid not. I had to hit him with my umbrella to get him to come along." Mrs. Q. said smiling.

"You what?!" Yuuhi shouted.

"Well, you didn't expect he'd come voluntarily now did you?" Mrs. Q. replied with a chuckle.

"Why the heck would we want him to come here voluntarily?" Yuuhi exclaimed in annoyance.

Aya and Suzumi gave him an unamused look.

"I mean, why the heck _wouldn't_ we want him to come here voluntarily? Hehe," he replied sheepishly pretending to correct himself.

"Mrs. Q. why did you bring him here?" Aya asked.

"I brought him here for you. You looked so lonely, like a little tot without his lollipop, like a monkey without a banana, like a butterfly..." Mrs. Q. began with a beautiful list of comparisons, "...that had it's wings chopped off and brutally ripped into pieces." Leave it to Mrs. Q. to turn a beautiful simile into a murderous rampage.

"She looked lonely?" Yuuhi asked slightly taken aback at this remark. He looked a little hurt, but even if he was, he covered it with anger.

"Well, yeah. This poor girl had her first and only true love taken away and now she just can't live without him!" Mrs. Q. said dramatically pointing to Aya.

Aya mouthed the word what stuttering as she did it. No words were coming out because her mouth had suddenly gone dry. Yuuhi luckily asked the question she had meant to.

"What? Are you blind?! Aya's been perfectly fine. She was damn near cured and over this whole ordeal until you had to go and bring _him_ here!" Yuuhi yelled.

Mrs. Q. stared back at him blankly. Then she got out of the car and walked over to Aya who was still sitting on the ground. "No, no. I think you were just reading her wrong. She's really very miserable without him." Mrs. Q. grabbed Aya's cheeks. "Does this look like the face of a happy person? Huh? HUH?"

"No, it's not. Aya would be much better off with Tooya than Yuuhi," Suzumi answered.

"WHAT?!" Yuuhi shouted.

"Oh... Yuuhi, you liked Aya too? Oh, well, maybe now it's time you went to your _real_ secret love, Chidori!" Mrs. Q. announced.

Chidori's jaw dropped, "Yuuhi, you like me???" She began to smile and bat her eyes at him.

"You like Chidori?! YOU'RE SUCH A PERVERT! Hitting on two girls at the same time!" Suzumi yelled swatting Yuuhi countless times with her fan.

"No! NO! Mrs. Q. what is going on here? I don't like Chidori!"

Chidori's smile disappeared.

"Don't deny it now. I set this all up for you two," Mrs. Q. said smiling sweetly.

"You can't just play matchmaker like that! If you were any help at all, you would have set Aya up with _me_. Instead you just created a huge problem."

Mrs. Q. frowned, "I didn't mean to." She started to bawl.

"Mrs. Q., stop. It's okay. We'll just drive him back to wherever you got him from," Yuuhi said patting her awkwardly on the back.

"_No! They can't do that! Then I'll never know for sure who I really love. We have to keep Tooya with us for a while to see if he remembers me now," Aya thought hopingly._

"No! I want him to stay!" Aya yelled out.

Yuuhi looked at her sadly. It felt like his heart had just been ripped right out of his chest. For a moment he forgot to breathe. His complexion turned pale and his eyes stared unblinking and full of sorrow. He was crushed. His mind went blank and he couldn't think to himself.

"Y-you want him to stay?"

"Yes," she said softly, "I'm sorry, Yuuhi."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! It can't be! It just can't! ::sob:: What will happen next? Even I, the author, do not know. Hehe. I know at the begininning I announced I had a plan, but now I'm not so sure. LoL! Leave it to me, the decision maker. I'll have to decide which way I want this to turn out. I have some ideas, but it never hurts for fellow readers to voice their opinions. : ) This isn't even how I had originally planned for the story to go, I wanted it to be all happy and peppy. It would have just been boring then though. So, let the drama commence! (Also, please review!)


	6. Chapter 6

Omg! I'm soooo sorry everyone! It's been months since I've updated. Ahhh!!! Time passes too quickly. I had major writers block, but I should have tried harder to keep writing. I'm back now though and with a new chapter! Woohoo!! I finished this entire chapter, aside from the first few paragraphs, in one night. I stayed with it for a few hours and bam! Chapter six is born. I really hope you like it. Much hasn't changed since the last chapter sadly. I wanted to get that perfect mix of humor and seriousness and I think I went overboard on the humor… I tried too hard. ::shrug:: Well, once again I'm so sorry for not updating in a while! I'll try my best to get in chapter seven after a reasonable amount of time. WAAHH! I'm wasting my chapter with an intro… sorry again!

Chapter 6

Characters thoughts in italics

"Oh, good! So does this mean I solved everything? I knew it! Mrs. Q. to the rescue!"

"Solve everything?" Yuuhi said breathlessly. "SOLVE EVERYTHING! All you've done is create more problems!"

"Well, obviously we can't just leave him lying in the car. We're gonna have to take him home and take care of that bruise. Mrs. Q., it was thoughtful of you to want to cheer Aya up, but no more kidnapping or hitting people with your umbrella… maybe the fan, but not the umbrella," Suzumi said wearing a smirk on her face as she glanced at Yuuhi. She expected to see an angry face staring back at her, but instead saw a pained expression. Her smirk disappeared.

_"He really does like Aya. A person doesn't get this upset over nothing. I've never seen him act like this before. It's almost like a part of him is missing…" Suzumi thought._

Yuuhi stared at the ground. His heart ached and he longed for some kind of answer.

_"Why does she want him to stay? I thought she'd moved on and forgot about him. Isn't there some way that time could stop and go in reverse… back before any of this happened, before Tooya appeared?" Yuuhi wondered._

Aya was still sitting on the ground where she had fallen for her second time that day… "_Well, actually fallen for her third because she'd tripped clumsily over a pair of Yuuhi's shoes earlier this morning." She remembered. "He does have big feet… and a cute smile… and really sexy eyes. Oh! Those eyes! Ack! What am I doing? Tooya's sitting in the car not 10 feet away and all I can think about is Yuuhi! This could be my only shot at a second chance with Tooya, the love of my life. Even if I have a bit more than a few feelings for Yuuhi, I have to find out if it will work with Tooya first."_

"Chidori?" Aya asked glancing up.

"Yea?" she replied sweetly with a smile on her face.

"Could you help me up? I just want to see if Tooya's awake."

Chidori turned to face the car and then turned her attention back to Aya, "Nope, he's still out of it. Mrs. Q. sure can knock 'em out."

"With my charm and extraordinarily good looks that is," Mrs. Q. said striking a pose.

Everyone, including Mrs. Q. turned to face Yuuhi expecting an insult to be said, but it was completely silent.

"Well, now I just feel unloved. I don't get any compliments and now I don't get any insults either!" Mrs. Q. sobbed.

"There, there," Chidori said comforting her. "You're still the most hideous looking, fish-faced person I know."

"Oh, thank you Chidori!" Mrs. Q. said hugging her.

"A compliment might have been the better choice…" Suzumi mumbled.

"umm… Chidori?" Aya asked. "Would you please help me up?"

"I will," Yuuhi said speaking up for the first time since entering his "silent phase." He forced out a smile, but by the look in his eyes, Aya could tell he was upset.

"Thanks," Aya replied as she was hoisted up.

She sighed, "I feel safe again."

"You wanted to go see Tooya, right?"

"um… yea."

"Think you can hobble on one foot just over to the car?"

"I think so."

_"What? He's not gonna even volunteer to carry me? I'd really rather be carried. I feel so safe and comfortable in his arms. Why didn't I say no?!"_

"Are you sure? I mean you really don't want to hurt your only good foot by walking on it like that. Don't you think that Yuuhi should carry you?" Suzumi spoke up.

_Aya gasped, "Can she read my mind or something? Hello, HELLO! Suzumi? Can you hear me?"_

"She'll be fine. It's no distance at all," Yuuhi answered.

For a moment Aya's mind suddenly went blank. Yuuhi was acting so strangely, as if he was blocking out all of his emotions. He was behaving not unlike a robot, trying to go back to his normal self, but unable to because a part of him was missing. He was trying so desperately to turn his back on his love for Aya.

_"I can't believe I said that to her. I would give anything to carry her, but I only want to help her and make her happy, and to do that I have to forget all feelings that I had for her. I've got to treat her like I did back before I knew I loved her," Yuuhi thought._

"But it's the gentleman thing to do," Suzumi pushed.

"I said it's not that far! Besides, I don't want to have to carry her. Do you know how much she weighs?"

"HEY! You blithering idiot! If I wasn't injured, I'd take you down right now!" Aya yelled in fury.

"Yeah, right! Gimme a break!" Yuuhi shot back.

"Children, please!" Suzumi shouted.

"This is getting good," Mrs. Q. said nudging Chidori.

The yelling ceased and everyone turned to face Suzumi.

"Well, it's not as if anyone cared too much with all this fighting, but I think Tooya's finally awake."

Everyone's heads snapped toward the car. It was true! Tooya was groaning and grabbing at his forehead with his eyes barely open.

"Wh-Where am I?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. This is definitely getting good, Mrs. Q… Mrs. Q.?" Chidori said.

"Ahhhh! He's awake! He's awake! What do we do? What do we do?" Mrs. Q. yelled frantically running around in a circle.

"I don't know. You're the one who brought him here," Yuuhi answered.

"I th- I think I recognize that voi…" Tooya began.

"Heeeyah!" Mrs. Q. shouted as she smacked Tooya yet again on the head with her umbrella.

Suzumi stood calmly observing what had just happened. "Somehow I don't think that was the right decision to make…" she said.

And there you have it. ::sigh:: I'm not sure how this compares with other chapters. Not enough happening. I just had my mind made up when I began this chapter that Mrs. Q. was gonna hit Tooya with her umbrella again. LoL! So I made it work. I do kinda feel bad for Tooya at the end there. He's been through so much in one day. Hehe! You will, however notice that Suzumi is beginning to change a little. Anyone catch onto that? I figured it was about time for her to lighten up already! Well, I hope you like it, and PLEASE REVIEW! (I beg of you… if there are still any readers left out there… please just leave some comments. Fell free to yell openly at me for not updating soon enough. Maybe if I have angry readers breathing down my neck, it'll get me to update faster.)


	7. Chapter 7

Woo!!! Back again! I bet readers sure are surprised, considering my 3 month break. I just had a surge of ideas so I again stayed up writing. LoL! I seem to get most of my writing done at night… go figure. I thought my brain would be asleep then, but I guess not. This is one of my longer chapters. I was gonna stop at a different spot, but then continued to write for a whole other page. LoL! Well, enjoy!

Chapter 7

Thoughts in italics

Mrs. Q. stood huffing with her umbrella still raised above her head next to an unconscious Tooya. He now had two giant red marks on his forehead, and was probably missing a few brain cells.

"Well, I don't think you could have handled _that _any better," Yuuhi commented sarcastically.

Mrs. Q. wore a strange smile on her face and gazed at Yuuhi almost adoringly. "Oh, Yuuhi, you do care!" She lunged at him nearly tackling he and Aya to the ground.

"Geez! Don't read too much into it, I was mocking you!"

"But you care enough to mock me! And besides, it was just constructive criticism for me to acknowledge one of my very, very few flaws."

"Mrs. Q., you're overanalyzing again," Suzumi commented.

"I thought it was sweet…" Chidori said shrugging her shoulders.

"Being the nice people we are, I think it's about time we got Tooya home and take care of those bruises. It really can't be good for a memory loss patient to be hit in the head with a blunt object… twice," Suzumi pointed out. "So, Yuuhi grab Aya and everyone pile in. It's gonna be a tight squeeze."

"But…" Yuuhi began.

"I said carry her!" Suzumi yelled standing only inches from his face. Yuuhi's eyes got wide from fear, and he backed up from her. Then he proceeded to scoop Aya up into his arms and high-tailed it to the car.

"_I'm not carrying the woman of my dreams! I'm not carrying the woman of my dreams! I'm not carrying the woman of my dreams…" he repeated over and over _in_ his head._

When they made it to the car, Yuhi practically ran straight into it, but when the time came, he gently set Aya down as carefully as he could. He wanted to prevent any further injury to her ankle.

"Okay, there is just not enough room here. Someone is just gonna have to sit on someone's lap or something," Chidori complained.

"I volunteer to sit on Yuuhi's lap!" Mrs. Q. yelled.

Yuuhi shuddered.

"You're the driver!" Suzumi exclaimed.

Aya hadn't been paying attention since Yuuhi had set her down. She had that same familiar feeling again when he was carrying her even though it was only for a short time. All of these feelings were frankly confusing the hell out of her. She was getting so frustrated with herself. How cold she say one thing out loud so everyone could hear and then change her mind? …possibly.

"_I don't know what I'm gonna do. I love Tooya. I'm in love with Tooya… I was in love with Tooya. Then there's Yuuhi… I love Yuuhi too… I don't know what to do!" _Aya had a million thoughts running through her head at once. She was remembering all of the times Yuuhi had comforted and made her laugh, and even made her mad, but she was remembering all of her happy memories with Tooya as well. He had taken a piece of her that could never be given back.

"Well, it would only make sense that Aya be the one to lay across us all so her ankle can be propped up," Suzumi said.

Aya snapped back into reality when she heard her name said, "Huh?"

"Haven't you been paying attention at all?" Chidori asked.

"No, sorry. I was zoning out a little," Aya said with a weak smile. "That's all."

"Well, we've settled the seating issue. You'll just kind of lay across us all so your ankle will be okay," Chidori explained.

"Um… well, okay I guess?" Aya answered a little uncomfortably.

_"This is the price I pay for not paying attention…"_

"It's only for a little while. The drive here took all of five minutes. You'll be fine, right?" Suzumi asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course," Aya replied hesitantly not wanting to cause a problem.

She got out and braced herself with the side of the car while the other three sat back down and buckled their seatbelts. Then she sat blushing on Yuuhi and stretched out her legs on the other two as Suzumi instructed.

"_How humiliating!" she thought._

By then Yuuhi was blushing as well and uncomfortably held onto Aya so she wouldn't tip over when Mrs. Q turned. The only way he could think to handle his awkwardness was with humor so he desperately racked his brain for a joke to crack, but couldn't get his mind off of Aya.

_"Something about her weight maybe. No! I used that already… uhh… something about her bony legs. No, her legs are perfect! Who am I kidding? Wait! She's too pale. Hah! There's a joke."_

"Aya, get a tan!" Yuuhi suddenly yelled interrupting the previous conversations that the others were having. The car went silent and everyone was staring at Yuuhi with confusion.

"What?" he asked.

Suzumi shook her head. "What a bozo."

Finally to Yuuhi's relief, they arrived back at the Aogiri house. He dutifully carried Aya back to her room and layed her on her bed. Then he retrieved an icepack for her ankle.

"Are you feeling better? How's your ankle?" he asked.

"I'm feeling better already. I bet I'll be able to walk without needing you to hold me up by tomorrow. Thank you for your help today by the way," Aya answered with a small smile on her face.

"Oh, well it was no problem. I'd do anything for you, Aya."

_"Ahh! Not acting like before I knew I loved her! Quick, an insult… Damnit! I've got nothing. Why does she have this power over me?" Yuuhi thought._

"Oh… um, s-so how's Tooya doing? Did he wake up yet?" Aya replied trying to ignore Yuuhi's remark.

Yuuhi's eyes once again looked downcast. "No, he's still asleep. Chidori's taking care of his bruises though… icepack and, uh… all." He could barely concentrate on what he was saying.

"Oh."

"Well, I'd better start getting dinner read. I'll, uh, call you when it's, um… ready."

_"Even still, Tooya's all she can think about."_

"_It's better this way. I need to talk to Tooya again and find out for sure…"_

"_Why can't it be me?"_

"_But I do love you, Yuuhi."_

_"Why can't it be me?"_

::sigh:: A bittersweet ending for this chapter. I thought the end was pretty cool myself. LoL! Funny how the thought process works. Looking at it now, this chapter doesn't seem as long as I thought it would be. Hmm… Well, I hope you liked it, and if you did please let me know! Review! See you in chapter 8!


	8. Chapter 8

Yeesh! It has been far, far, far too long since I've updated my fic. I apologize to everyone that I kept waiting. I had writers' block so bad, and I kind of forgot all about it. I know, I know. How could I? I stayed up again last night simply plotting how I wanted the story to go and I think I found a good ending. Don't panic though! This isn't the last chapter. Not by far. I'm just relieved that I have a plot to stick to for once. Hopefully it'll keep me writing. Okay, and now the long overdue chapter 8! Enjoy!

Chapter 8

Aya woke up the next morning to bright and beautiful day. If only her mood could have matched it... She was still utterly confused and torn between two wonderful people, both whom she loved dearly. Her first love, Tooya, was somewhere in a room in the very house that she was. She had wished for this for so long and now it was true, but through the flimsy door in the next room was Yuuhi. A genuinely great guy who could always make her smile, who was there by her side through everything.

"_I wonder what he's thinking right now," Aya wondered as she stared at the door separating their rooms._

She laid her head comfortably down on her pillow, but kept her eyes open. She continued to stare until she was rudely interrupted by a loud voice.

"Wake up! Wake up! You've all been asleep for hours!" Mrs. Q. cried out as she skipped happily through the hallways. "I can't take it anymore! I want to know what's gonna happen!"

Yuuhi immediately sat up in his bed, his bloodshot eyes open wide. "Gack! Mrs. Q., go back to sleep. It's too early!" he yelled covering his ears.

Mrs. Q. ran into his room and began jumping up and down on his bed barely missing landing on him each time. "Wake! Up! Wake! Up!" she shouted gleefully with each jump.

"I. Don't. Wanna," Yuuhi replied mumbling with a sour look on his face. He had given up dodging the jumps and resorted to curling up into a ball on the side of the bed. He laid facing the doors which led to Aya's room. Even through all the distractions around him he couldn't help wondering about her.

"_Why'd she want him to stay? I still don't get it. We were getting so close, until _he _came back. I love her, why doesn't she love... Oww! Ow! Ow! Ow!" _

A shooting pain ran through Yuuhi's leg and he cried out in pain. "Ow! My leg!"

Aya was intrigued by what was going on and hobbled out of bed to the door. She opened it to find Yuuhi writhing around on his bed in pain clutching his leg while Mrs. Q. watched trying to catch him. Aya simply shrugged. This was normal to her now.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Yuuhi!" Mrs. Q. said in surprise. "Do you want me to kiss it to make it feel better?" She batted her eyes at Yuuhi grinning.

Yuuhi tugged his sheet forward sweeping Mrs. Q. off of her feet and onto the floor. She landed with a loud thud. Much to his surprise, she jumped right back up like a punching bag still with a giant smile upon her face.

"Guess where you have to kiss me now," she blurted out in a singsong voice.

Yuuhi cringed and immediately sped out of his room in a blaze.

"I don't get it. I'm a stunning beauty," Mrs. Q. stated confidently to Aya. "He should be falling to his knees in admiration. There's no one else in this world that looks like me."

"Isn't that the truth," Aya replied meaning it as an insult. Mrs. Q. however, lived in her own little world. She took it as a compliment and walked cheerfully to the kitchen with pride, Aya following behind.

They entered the kitchen to find Suzumi sitting at the table with Tooya. He was clutching the back of his head with both arms, elbows on the table and staring forward intently with his eyes wide as though he'd just seen a ghost. Yuuhi was in the background over the stove cooking breakfast angrily.

"Can this day just get any better?" Yuuhi muttered sarcastically to himself as he stirred the pot furiously.

Aya's breath left her as she stared at Tooya. He was staring back at her. She froze in place nervously as she gazed at him. Her mouth was slightly dropped open and her eyes were full of confusion and pain. His eyes were intense. It was as though they looked into her soul. They remained looking at each other for what seemed like hours, but it was really only a few moments.

"Is this true, Suzumi?" Tooya asked breaking the stare as he turned to face her.

"_What? Is what true? What's going on?" Aya wondered._

Suzumi glanced toward Aya with a worried look. "Yes, it's true. Everything that you're remembering really happened."

Tooya looked at Aya again and then back down at the table in front of him.

"Oh! You mean..." Mrs. Q. cried out excitedly.

Suzumi nodded quickly hoping that she would stop right there and let happen what would happen. Of course it just wasn't in Mrs. Q.'s nature to do that though. She was notorious for having a big mouth and immediately blurted out every last detail that Aya didn't know.

"Those headaches he was having last night were more of his memory returning!" Mrs. Q. gasped. "That means he knows that he was in love with Aya before! Ooh goody!"

A clatter came from the background as Yuuhi dropped a plate onto the floor. He had known about the headaches the previous night also, but he was hoping that they weren't what he feared. To hear it all stated so frankly was just as much as he could take.

Aya's jaw dropped and she began blushing feverishly. _"Oh, my g... What do I... Should I say... He knows... Does that mean... Oh, my g..."_ Her thoughts were all incoherent and jumbled together. She couldn't think straight and she couldn't get the dumb look that she was wearing off of her face.

The room was silent.

"Well, somebody's gotta say something. I've been waiting for this for..." Mrs. Q. said checking her watch. "Eight hours thirty-nine minutes and one, two, three seconds!"

"Good morning, everyone!" Chidori greeted cheerfully stretching her arms into the air as she walked into the kitchen. When she saw the looks on everyone's faces, she knew what had happened. Her smile disappeared. "Ohh..."

"Well," Suzumi started trying to break the awkward moment that was taking place. "Since he knows now and he really doesn't have anywhere to go, why doesn't Tooya just stay here with us until he finds somewhere else to go."

"What?" Yuuhi yelled in shock.

"_No way! This is not happening! This jerk is not going to be living with us! If he thinks he's gonna be living with us then he's just horribly mistake because he's not going to be living with us. I'm not gonna be cooking meals for this moron!" _

"And since you two will be the only guys in the house..." Suzumi began.

"No!" Yuuhi shouted at once gesturing frantically with his hands. "No way!"

"It's either that, or someone gives up their room for him and they bunk with someone else. Those are the options."

"I will graciously give up my room and bunk with Yuuhi," Mrs. Q. immediately commented boldly.

"No!" Yuuhi yelled as he squirmed around frightened.

"Then Mrs. Q. can bunk with Chidori instead," Suzumi stated flatly.

Chidori's head turned in a flash to face Suzumi with a small look of worry on her face. She wore a pained expression, but when Mrs. Q. turned toward her it changed into a forced smile.

"Ooh! This is gonna be so much fun! It'll be like a gigantic sleep over! We can braid each other's hair, and tell ghost stories..." Mrs. Q.'s list rambled on and on.

"Yeah, I know. I know..." Chidori replied trying to act excited. Instead she sounded like a butterfly who's wings had just been brutally chopped off and torn into pieces. Hehe! The forced smile on her face turned into a slight grimace. She looked quite creepy.

"Who wants to room with Yuuhi anyway. He's a buffoon."

Yuuhi was too busy to reply though. He was staring at Aya, who just happened to be staring at Tooya. The same flood of heartbreaking feelings came pouring back and raced into him like a whirlwind. Reality sank in and left him breathless.

Sad, really sad. Again, not much happening. This chapter was needed though. It kind of sets up the plot for what will happen next. Sorry, if I mixed up any details and facts. I just quickly reread all of my previous chapters to get me back on track. I was more concerned with just writing and writing to my heart's desire. I wanted to just let one sentence take me into the next. I'm not one for plotting sadly, but I do have the big events already plotted out. Sometimes it's the little details in between that matter the most though. Please READ and REVIEW! Thank you!


	9. Chapter 9

Phew! I've been writing like crazy trying to make my own time schedule. I was originally going to use what I had written already for chapter 9, but it felt like something was missing, like not enough time had passed yet so I quickly wrote this up. I had originally been planning to post this no later than the middle of October, but since I had to create a whole new chapter from scratch it took a little longer. Okay, a lot longer. Sorry for the delay, and a giant thank you to those who reviewed! You're what keeps me writing! Okay, enough talk. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 9

"You know, I can't even remember the last time we were out shopping. Can you believe that?" Chidori asked as she sat comfortably on a pillow in the living room.

"I know! The only time I've been shopping was to get more groceries. Ooh! Speaking of which, I got more twinkies!" Suzumi exclaimed excitedly jumping up off of her pillow and jogging to the kitchen.

The three women of the house, excluding Mrs. Q. who was off doing something else, were all sprawled over the living room floor engaging in some good-natured girl talk. Different snacks: popcorn, pretzels, candy, you name it; all laid in decorative bowls and assorted containers surrounding them. It had been months since they had all just taken the time to have some fun.

"Ooh! Good! Hey, Suzumi can you bring back some tea too?" Chidori called to her.

"Who do you think I am? That American, Martha Stewart? I'm not making tea... but I will bring some soda. We've already got twinkies..." Suzumi said raising the box of goodies in the air and waving it around in front of the others. "...and candy. This is no health food fest!"

A big smile broke out on Aya's face as she caught the box of twinkies that Suzumi had just thrown across the room. She opened the box and passed Chidori a package before grabbing one for herself and opening it. She took a bite before finally asking the question that had been on her mind all day.

"Chidori, what on earth happened to you hair?"

Chidori's face transformed from a smile into a bleak and cold stare. Her eyes were hidden behind furrowed eyebrows. She only spoke two words, "Dread locks."

Aya at first sat calmly nodding her head slowly as she fully examined the extent of what Chidori's hair had gone through. Slowly, but surely her lips formed a tight pucker as she tried hard not to laugh. She bit down on them and blinked her eyes a few times, but it was no use. She burst into laughter falling over onto the hard wood floor.

"This is far from funny! Do you not see what Mrs. Q. did to my hair? It's in dread locks! DREAD LOCKS!"

Suzumi who had once again gone back to the kitchen to pick up three cans of soda was heard guffawing. The trip would have taken her less than fifteen seconds, but she wanted to get it all out before returning with their drinks. Aya however kept laughing, so Suzumi just walked out and handed Chidori her soda before collapsing down upon her pillow in laughter.

"It's not funny! You don't know what it's like living with Mrs. Q.! Every night is like a sleep over. She won't let me go to sleep unless we play at least two rounds of Truth or Dare! I can now safely give everyone the advice to never choose dare!"

"Let me guess, she dared you to put dread locks in your hair?" Aya asked glad for the opportunity to laugh. It had been so long since she laughed like this. Lately there hadn't been much that she found funny, but this was just too much.

"No," Chidori stated frankly. "That was just of _her_ own free will. I woke up with this!" She grabbed a portion of her hair yanking it forward annoyed. "She dared me to run around the house naked!"

Suzumi who had somewhat calmed down and was in mid sip of her drink, barely managed to save anything from spilling and began to laugh again. "And you did it? How could you be so stupid?"

Chidori leaned over until her face was mere inches from Suzumi's and glared at her. "Do NOT underestimate the power of Mrs. Q. There were no other options. She stripped me naked forced me out of the room and locked the door! She can be really, really mean!"

"And vindictive, sly and cunning," Aya said remembering past events as she nibbled on her twinkie.

"Hey, everyone what are you doing?" Yuuhi began as he entered the living room. When he saw the junk food he got distracted. "Ooh! Twinkies!" He grabbed one of the wrapped goodies and began to sit down with the other girls before he saw Aya.

"Um, I guess you could join us, but only if you don't mock my hair!" Chidori stated before checking it over with the others.

"Oh, umm..." he mumbled ignoring most of Chidori's comment. He began to stand back up while staring at Aya. She was lying on her pillow on the floor on her stomach while gently kicking her feet forwards and backwards. Her hair was in a loose pony tail and parts of it covered her face where it dangled down in the front.

"I was just going to uh, make myself some lunch," Yuuhi finished quickly. He then turned and practically ran back into the kitchen.

The three girls looked at each other with looks of confusion. "He's acting a bit weird, huh?" Chidori said breaking the confused silence.

"Only since Tooya got here," Suzumi pointed out.

"_It was true," Aya thought becoming quiet._ Yuuhi seemed to almost be avoiding her ever since Tooya had moved in with them. Her smile and laughter from before faded_. "I wish that it didn't have to be like this. I've still gotta take a chance with Tooya. I've gotta find out if there's anything still here. It's the right thing to do... right?" _

Tooya sat outside on an old stone bench enjoying the beautiful weather. He sat facing the row of trees that surrounded the backyard, watching the branches as they swayed with the gentle breeze. It was calming and peaceful and definitely relaxing. Living at the Aogiri house definitely was not any of the above. Some time alone to think was all he needed at the moment. His brain scanned over all of the details he'd learned and remembered over the past few weeks.

It's a bad spot to stop I know. This is NOT all that I intended on writing. I just couldn't seem to get past this last part. So instead of making everyone wait until I had it perfect, I'm just posting it as is. I may update this chapter later on, but for now I just need to continue on with the story. I promise the next chapter is really good. Thank you for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Hello again! I believe this was a reasonable amount of time to get in another chapter. Thank you for continuing to read even though I haven't really updated like this in about seven months. Sorry again. Hopefully this will live up to your expectations. Be prepared because this is a long one. Seriously, I believe it's the longest one so far. Anyway, and now what you've all been waiting for. :Pulls sheet off uncovering...: Chapter 10! Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Yuuhi laid sprawled across his bed in his room reading an outdated cooking book. The subtle music from a radio could faintly be heard in the background. His foot tapped along to a catchy tune as he continued to flip through the pages.

"Oooh! I have to try this one!" he exclaimed immediately folding down the corner to mark the page.

As he gleefully continued to flip through page after page of delicious recipes, Aya appeared out of no where at his door. She knocked lightly on the frame before slowly entering.

"Umm Yuuhi, can I join you?" she shyly asked.

"Uhh... sure."

Aya gave a small smile, walked right over to his bed and plopped down next to him. "What are you reading?"

"_... ... ! Pretty girl! On my bed!"_

Yuuhi tensed up and scooched over to the other side of the bed to make room for her. His cheeks turned a light shade of red. Nervously he replied, "A... cooking book."

"Oh," she responded interested. "Ooh! That looks good! Could you cook that?"

"Yeah. Do you want it because I can make it right now," Yuuhi quickly answered preparing to get up and head to the kitchen.

"No, silly. I just meant could you cook it. You don't have to make it right now."

"Oh." Yuuhi felt his arm tingle from Aya's touch. He gladly sat back down on the bed next to her. His cheeks were still red, but it didn't seem to matter because Aya's were as well.

They stared into each others eyes, Aya still grasping his arm. Yuuhi leaned forward a little. So did Aya. Her eyes began to flutter shut as her lips met his. The only sound in the room was of their own breathing and the low music playing. Soon the song faded out as the kiss intensified.

Aya put her hands on either side of Yuuhi's face and ran her fingers through his hair. She continued to hold his face and pulled it closer to hers. Soon she began to lean back onto the bed bringing him down on top of her.

"_Oh my g...!"_

"Yuuhi!" a feminine voice called out. "Yuuhi, wake up!"

He jolted awake and opened his eyes to see Suzumi's face only six inches from his. "Ack!" he yelled as he tumbled out of bed.

"Jeez! Quit drooling all over your pillow! We're all hungry and you're the only cook around here. Will you please get up and make breakfast?" Suzumi shouted.

Yuuhi moaned from the floor lazily. Still hugging his pillow that he had dragged down to the floor with him, he whined, "I was in the middle of a _really_ good dream! Besides, it's not like I'm the _only_ cook around here. You cook too sometimes."

"I just said you were... Are you not listening? Wake up!" Suzumi scolded swatting him with her fan. She had brought it just in case... This was definitely one of those cases.

"Ow! I thought that thing was gone."

"Far from it. Now get up, we're hungry."

Tooya had been living at the house for almost a month now, but breakfast was still as awkward as the first had been. Yuuhi had been at the top of Aya's list, but it now belonged to Tooya. At least it felt that way to Yuuhi. He avoided Tooya at all costs, but each and every morning he would awake just to see his rival sitting at the table across from Aya.

"_Damn bastard. I'm burning his eggs."_ Yuuhi thought as he scooped a pile of prepared eggs onto a plate. He then arranged the eggs into the shape of a heart, double checked his handiwork and then proceeded to scatter them back before setting the plate in front of Aya.

"Thanks! They look delicious," Aya replied quietly with a small smile on her face. Her eyes were tired and had dark circles around them.

"Aya! What happened to you? You look horrible," Chidori asked as she waited for her plate of eggs.

"Oh, nothing really. I couldn't really sleep last night. I had a strange dream."

"_Huh, me too," Yuuhi thought right as Tooya opened his mouth to speak._

"You too? That's weird. What was yours about?" Aya asked staring at Yuuhi thoughtfully as she raised a fork full of eggs to her mouth.

"Oh, uh..." Yuuhi replied surprised.

"_Huh? I didn't mean to say anything. Damn it! I'm still not awake."_

"It wasn't really anything important. Just your average, run of the mill, strange dream. Hehe!" Yuuhi laughed nervously. He returned to his cooking as soon as he had finished the sentence to avoid any awkward comments on his own part.

"Oh, okay," Aya said softly a little upset that Yuuhi didn't want to share his dream with her.

"Well, _I_ had the weirdest dream last night!" Mrs. Q. commented butting into the conversation. "There were hundreds of thousands of mutant alien rats taking over Tokyo and no one could stop them except Tooya and Yuuhi. Tooya had a macho sword and two semi automatics, but Yuuhi just had those wussy chopsticks."

"What do you mean _wussy_?" Yuuhi burst out with a scowl on his face as he turned around to face her in an apron holding a spatula and another plate of eggs.

Everyone sitting at the table stared at him with unconvinced looks upon their faces. They eyed the apron he was wearing, Mrs. Q. sparing a quick extra glance or two, before finally looking back at him in the eyes.

"I didn't want to spill anything on... Never mind!" Yuuhi shouted trying to defend himself from the peanut gallery. He angrily put the plate on the table in front of Suzumi and went back to his cooking. He left the remainder of the eggs just a bit too long on the burner before setting the plates in front of Mrs. Q., Chidori and Tooya.

"Anyway," Mrs. Q. continued. "As they were out killing all of the mutant alien rats they ended up getting into a fight, and for some reason there was a pit of chocolate pudding right there. So there they were wrestling in the pudding and Tooya kicked Yuuhi's ass! I mean he punched him back into the past! He didn't stand a chance!"

Tooya chuckled slightly and a tiny, smug smile appeared on his face as he picked at the burnt eggs on his plate. Yuuhi glared at him, his temper rising. He clenched his fists in anger prepared to duke it out should the opportunity present itself.

"I could kick his ass any day!" he boldly stated.

Aya glanced nervously back and forth between Tooya and Yuuhi. A worried look was permanently engraved upon her face as she silently wished that nothing would happen.

Suzumi stood up in preparation to end a fight early. "Yuuhi, we all know that you're a macho guy. No need to prove it. We've _all..._" she quickly glanced toward Tooya as a warning. "..seen you fight. We know that you're brave. Now, just take a seat and eat your breakfast."

Yuuhi didn't know where this sudden rush of anger had come from. Usually he'd just take the insult and brush it off. Luckily Tooya made no further comments and Yuuhi just let the whole ordeal slide.

Later in the day Chidori and Suzumi had decided to head out on a shopping trip, something that they hadn't done for a very long time. Aya was still feeling a bit drained from lack of sleep and the incident that morning, and decided not to go along with them. That left the other four at home.

Aya was sitting back in her room thinking about the strange dream that she'd had last night. _"I wonder why I dreamed about that. It was so weird even if it_ was _just a dream..."_

Tooya quietly entered her room and sat down next to her without a sound. Throughout the month he had been living there, he remembered all of the precious moments he had shared with Aya. After spending more and more time with her, those memories and the new ones he had now convinced him enough to want to continue having a relationship with her. He had secretly called and broken things off with Miori a short number of days ago from the pay phone by the park. It was a horrible way to tell her and she didn't take it too well, but it was something he had to do.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Tooya asked her as she took notice of him.

"Um, I'm fine. Just thinking," Aya replied nervously. Here for a month or not, he still made her stomach fill with butterflies anytime he spoke to her. Now here he was sitting next to her.

"About what?"

"Oh, um, just about that dream that I had."

"I see," Tooya replied making himself comfortable. He laid back on her bed with his arms folded behind his head. "What was it about?"

Aya's heart began to race. She blushed a bit and hoped that he didn't notice, but by the look on his face she could tell that he had. "It was nothing really. Just a dream," she replied repeating the same old answer as everyone had been doing that day.

"Aw, you don't want to tell me, do you?" Tooya responded flirtatiously as a smile broke out over his face.

"_He has such a great smile!"_

"I guess you caught me," Aya flirted back as she weakened to his smile. Her lips turned upward to form a shy smile back to him.

"_What am I doing? There's no way a smile can just do that. He can be so adorable sometimes though."_

Tooya moved his arms out from behind his head and braced himself as he sat back up. He moved closer to Aya until their arms were touching. "You know that I like you, right Aya?"

She mumbled out something along the lines of a yes.

"And I know that you loved me before. I loved you before too..."

"_What's happening..."_

"... I know that this is really awkward now, but I can remember everything. _Everything._"

"_I remember it too," Aya thought as she closed her eyes._

"And I want to try and start things over. Right back where we left off. I want us to be together again."

"_I do too, I think. But... Yuuhi."_

Tooya was leaning closer now. Their faces were only inches apart. He was staring into her eyes. She was staring back. Their faces continued to get closer until Aya could feel his breath on her lips. His eyes were closed now, hers began to. It was the perfect moment, almost. If only for one second she could stop her mind from wandering and just fall into the moment, this would be it. She couldn't though.

A tremendous guilt fell over her, and all she could picture was Yuuhi... and her dream. It seemed almost a given that Yuuhi would pick that very moment to walk by the open door.

I kind of made Tooya the bad guy there for a while. Breaking up with Miori on a pay phone. Who does that? Oh, and the reason behind the pay phone is that she can't trace his call then. That's assuming that she has caller ID. Heh! Even though a lot was said and done in this chapter it still feels like it's missing something... So don't be surprised if you notice that it's been edited later. Looking forward to writing chapter 11! I've got one specific idea in mind. :big smile: Until then!


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